School Zorobin
by MayoAlien
Summary: College AU where Zoro is the only one to not know Robin. His first impression of her causes him to not want to become acquainted with her. But when a chance encounter arrives, he becomes curious-finding the elegant, mature side of her. As he begins to interact with her, he senses an ominous aura. He has to decide if his guts are telling him to stay away or to fall in deeper.
1. Lesson 1: First Impressions

**Title: **Lesson 1: First Impressions

**Pairing:** zorobin (have yet to decide if there will be other pairings)

**Chaptered**/One-shot

**Rated: **T (for some explicit language)

* * *

"Zoro! Hey, Zoroooo!"

The sound of Luffy's loud voice woke Zoro from his slumber. He stretched his arms as he felt a yawn coming on. He shifted his head from side to side realizing everyone was already leaving their seats. He rubbed his tired, watered eyes, thinking how screwed he was going to be for the upcoming exam. There had been plenty of other times where he fell asleep during this particular class. But who could blame him for falling asleep in Organic Chemistry when his major was Psychology.

"Zoooorooo~!" whined Luffy. "I'm hungry. Let's go to Sanji to get lunch," he said drooling over his already stained cheek. With such a short attention span, it was no surprise Luffy fell asleep too. The professor must have been pissed seeing two of his students having a snooze fest. Zoro finally got up from his seat and accompanied Luffy to their usual luncheon. The narrow hallways echoed Luffy's continuous cheerful shouts for meat. And of course, there were people staring at them because of it. Immune to the stares now, Zoro let out another yawn. Being his high school classmate, he developed an ability to mute Luffy's voice from his mind to a certain extent. He closed his eyes for a moment still feeling dreary and sleepy, wondering about how troublesome it's going to be learning the material for organic chemistry on his own. A soft laugh was heard, interrupting his thoughts. He peeked one eye open to see two people walking past him, unintentionally eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Seriously, I get that he likes to be protective of me, but," the guy said as he tugged on his yellow shirt, "I just want him to stop printing his name on my clothes."

"I think it's cute, kind of like a dog collar," replied the girl with long black hair.

"Hey…Don't joke like that," he said sickened, but the girl only chuckled in amusement.

Zoro stopped in his steps to grimace at the girl's freakish comparison, wondering what screw was loose in her brain. He turned around to look at her, but she had already turned the corner. His attention was brought forward when his shirt was suddenly pulled by Luffy, reminding him that they had somewhere to go.

"Hurry up, Zoro. The food is going to disappear if I don't get there before Bonney!"

Reaching the Culinary Clubroom, Luffy slammed the door open, excited by the smell of delicious food. Sanji had just finished preparing the meals and luckily for Luffy, Bonney hadn't stop by yet. He ran straight to the food and hailed the meat, then joined Usopp and Chopper in their discussion about the newly found beetle species. Zoro sat down near Brook, stealing a portion of food which happened to belong to Nami.

"You, stupid moss head! Don't go eating Nami-swan's meal!" scolded Sanji, attempting to hit his mossy head with a spatula.

"Hah?! You wanna fight?!" Zoro got up, butting heads with the cook. Before anything could happen, the devil wearing prada entered the room to resolve the issue.

"Ah, it's okay. You can have my meal. I already ate," Nami said while holding shopping bags in both hands. As expected, she went to the department store during her gap between classes. Zoro sat back down, scarfing down the food mockingly at Sanji. However, Sanji had moved on to take out a chair for the lady, transforming into her butler.

"Geez, there was nothing to buy today," Nami sighed.

"You call that nothing?" Usopp muttered dubiously.

"They didn't have any clothes with cute patterns. There were only shirts with words or phrases on them," she said disappointed.

Zoro's eyebrow perked at her statement. It reminded him of the girl's joke. He grimaced again, showing his obvious distaste for her sense of humor.

"Hey don't judge me!" Nami said mistaking his reaction. "I'll charge you $10 dollars every time you look at me like that!"

"That's not it. I was just thinking of something I heard," he looked away from her, frowning in secrecy.

"What were you thinking about?" Chopper asked still eating his cotton candy.

"Nothing, just about this joke some girl made."

"What was it?" Usopp pried. Just as Zoro was about to dismiss the topic, he realized everyone was waiting on his answer. They stared mercilessly and he knew they could go on for hours doing so; it was one of those things they were stupidly good at. Giving in to their pressure, he told them what he had heard and expected them to have the same reaction. But they all acted like it was familiar.

"Ah, that sounds just like something Robin would say," Nami said calmly.

"True that dark sense of humor could only be Robin," agreed Usopp. Chopper nodded and laughed when Usopp imitated her.

"I wonder if she'll let me see her panties," Brook said as he sipped his tea, earning a smack from Nami.

"Yeah. That was Robin who said that," said Luffy as he nonchalantly chomped on his drumstick.

"You saw Robin-chwan?!" Sanji's eyes turned love struck.

"Yeah. She passed us on the way here. I asked her if she wanted to join us, but she had plans with that Tra-guy she's always with." Luffy resumed to stuffing his mouth with more food. Sanji bit his apron while in tears, envying Luffy for seeing Robin. As everyone conversed about Robin, Zoro sat quietly in shock in contrast to his boggled thoughts: What the fuck was going on?! How was it that everyone knew who this Robin chick was? When the hell did Luffy talk to her? Was it earlier? When he blocked him out? Geez how fuckin' powerful was his selective hearing?

Noticing his confused expression, Nami asked, "Wait, don't tell me you don't know Robin?"

"So what if I don't," he haughtily responded.

"Hey, hey, Zoro, I can't believe you haven't met her yet. Have you been living in a cave?" mocked Usopp, provoking Zoro's rage.

"She's really great and smart!" exclaimed Chopper.

"I haven't seen her panties, but their probably great too," Brook laughed, again smack deserved.

"Hm? Didn't I ever mention Robin to you?" Luffy said tilting his brainless head as he pondered strenuously. He propped his head up as it was too much work to think. "I don't remember. Oh well. You should meet her! She's a good person," he smiled a wide grin.

"Stupid, moss head. How can you not know Robin-chwan?! Are you blind or deaf?!" shouted Sanji.

"ARGH! SHUT UP!" Zoro got up from his seat irritated by their pestering. But they only got noisier with more laughter and mockery, agitating him further. Having enough of their ridicule, he decided to leave to find a good place to sleep off his anger. He clicked his tongue tired of their stupid thoughts about that Robin woman. He jutted his lower jaw out stubbornly convincing himself that there was no need to know her. Right now, he just wanted some peace and quiet for once.

By the time he cooled off, he realized he had walked around aimlessly and was ultimately lost. He couldn't tell if these brick buildings were the same brick buildings he saw five minutes ago. He squinted at the surroundings and saw some unique looking statues which he figured he'd definitely remember if he was in this area before (though he actually had been there before). The area seemed empty and quiet, only the sounds of squirrels climbing trees could be heard. He looked up at the nearest building and saw it had an unusual rooftop. There was a large shadow that he couldn't make out, but assumed it to be something like a bench. Thinking maybe it was a resting or smoking area, Zoro decided to enter the building. He walked to the top of the staircase finding the entrance to the rooftop. He grinned as the knob clicked.

The rush of soft wind blew his short hair as he opened the door. The rooftop was nicer than he thought it would be. It was clean and there were various patches and pots of flowers sitting near the railing which was probably what he had mistaken for something like a bench. The flowers' fragrance mixed harmoniously to create a fresh, calming scent. Zoro looked behind him to see a small staircase leading to an empty platform that looked down over the flowers. He walked up and smiled at the sight; the flowers created a gradient of colors, looking as though it was a rainbow hovering over the surrounding buildings. He let out a sigh of relief as he lied himself comfortably on his back. He closed his eyes, thinking how nice this felt. It reminded him of the good old days in high school when he ditched class to sleep. He felt he could do the same here. But as he was about to fall asleep, he heard the creaking of the door. His eyes opened wide. Shit! He panicked, wondering if he was about to get caught by a professor for possible trespassing. Peering carefully over the edge of the platform, he tried to get a look of them. All he could see was the back of a girl holding a book in her hand. It was possible she was a teacher, but it didn't seem like it. For some reason, she looked familiar. He squinted, trying to get a better look. She approached the flowers, tending to them gently. It wasn't until she looked sideways at the flowers beside her that Zoro realized who she was.

Before he could think, he lowered his body, attempting to hide himself. Why of all people did she have to be there? He peeked once more to see if she had noticed him. Fortunately, she hadn't. She was focused on watering the flowers, taking careful measures to not overwater them. It seemed like she did this often, like this was her "quiet place". He sighed internally, thinking of how he needed to find another place to sleep. After she had finished, she sat beside the flowers with her back to the railing and opened her book. Her face was clearly visible now; her long black bangs swayed beside her cheek and floated over her thin, defined nose; her elegant fingers brushed them behind her small ears; her large brown eyes closed as she smiled at her book. When she wasn't saying dark jokes, she actually seemed normal and mature. There was something about her, though, that bothered him, but he couldn't explain what. She smiled again. Maybe she wouldn't notice he was here. He returned to lying flat on his back. She didn't seem like she would make any noise and it wasn't like he could leave without her noticing anyways. Plus it was a hassle to find a new a place, he argued. He placed his hands under his head and stared blankly at the sky, watching the formless clouds move slowly before closing his eyes to the sound of pages turning.

_The clock tower rang throughout the campus, marking the hour. The girl closed her book preparing to leave, but paused in her steps noticing an unusual figure. She walked softly up the stairs to find someone sleeping soundly. She placed her hand over her smiling lips, amused that his expression was so serious even in his sleep. Carefully, she stepped back down the staircase, gave one last smile to the sleeping figure, and exited the rooftop._

Lesson 1/End.


	2. Lesson 2: Always Be Cautious

Lesson 2: Always Be Cautious

* * *

It had been a week since Zoro found the flowered rooftop. He was reluctant to go back for the first few times in fear of running into that _woman_, but she never showed up. Well, not when he was around anyway. With each visit, he became less and less guarded, thinking they had different schedules and just that one time was a coincidence. Today again, Zoro headed towards the building in hopes to catch some much needed sleep after spending hours of studying for his exams. He yawned oh so graciously as he carelessly opened the door to the rooftop. When he opened his squinted eyes, he was faced with something unexpected. There was a crash as a pot of violet flowers fall to the cement. The door he recklessly opened had bumped the hands of the woman holding them. Shit. He finally realized what he had done. Before he could say anything, he hears his name from a familiar voice.

"Oi, Zoro! Why'd you do that for?!" Luffy said frustrated.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Ahh-ah~ now we're going to have to find a new pot to put these flowers in," Luffy ignored Zoro and headed towards Robin, who was picking up the broken ceramic. "Do we have any more in the storage?"

"I think we have some temporary plastics we could use. The pot wasn't broken too bad, so I think we'll be able to glue it back together." Robin smiled at Zoro either as an attempt to ease his guilt or to remind him of it, he couldn't tell which. He gulped, realizing he should apologize even if it was an accident, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"I'll go get a temporary then," Luffy said then faced Zoro, "Since you broke the pot, the least you could do now is help us out."

Robin clasped her hands, "That's a wonderful idea! You broke the pot at just the right time. We really needed someone to help us transfer the new bags of soil from the first floor to the rooftop."

Zoro grunted internally. He came here to rest, not to work. He wanted to refuse, but when he met eyes with Robin, she was smiling almost charmingly like doing so would get him to do it. It didn't, but the guilt of breaking a pot did, was what he argued as he found himself walking ten flights of stairs carrying a fifty pound bag full of dirt. Probably forty-five pounds by the time he got to the rooftop with all the dirt falling onto him. When he reached the top, Robin had moved towards the railing with the cluster of flowers arranged by colors. She was handling them with care as she inspected each pot. She glanced behind her to notice his accidental stare.

"Tired? There's _only_ four more to go." She smiled softly again. This time Zoro knew she was doing it to irk him.

"I'm fine," he said before heading back down to prove it.

This time he came up with two bags over his shoulder with twice the amount of sweat soaking his skin and three times the amount of veins popping out. He threw the bags next to the first one. The loud thud catching Robin's attention, but she doesn't say anything. Not that he was doing it to impress her or anything anyways. This was nothing compared to his old training regimen from when he was still active in athletic clubs. He jogged back down to the first floor and grabbed the remaining two. As he headed towards the stairs, Luffy had passed by saying, "I'll race ya!" obviously knowing it was impossible for Zoro to beat him. But still, Zoro accepted the challenge and grit his teeth as he ran to catch up to Luffy. Not surprisingly, Luffy reached the rooftop first followed by an exhausted Zoro. His chest heaved in rapid rhythms as he tried to catch his breath. Fuck he was tired—so tired that he let himself fall onto his back on the nice cold cement. A shadow suddenly casted over him. He opened one eye to see long strands of black hair flowing lightly with the breeze and that same conspicuous smile.

"Water?"

"Fuck you," was what he wanted to say, but all that came out was, "Thanks."

Zoro chugged the iced water until there was none left, not caring if it spilled to the corners of his lips. He continued to lie there as Luffy and Robin began working again. After a while, he was finally able to sit up and watch what they were doing. Luffy was placing the fallen flowers into the new temporary pot and Robin was filling in the larger pots with the dirt he had brought up. He was surprised that someone of her size could lift the bag. Her long black hair was now tied loosely together, exposing her poised cheeks that had become tinted with dirt. Small beads of sweat flowed from her temples to side of her cheeks then down to her chin and further down to her collarbone where the blouse of her shirt was unbuttoned.

As if noticing his stare, Robin gave him a glance. Taken aback, Zoro quickly turned his head, acting as calm as possible. He looked in the corner of his eye to check if she had looked away. She had not. In fact, she was already walking straight towards him. He cursed inwardly, not knowing what she was thinking. Robin squatted in front of him and leaned close, causing him to tilt his head back subconsciously.

"If you'd like, you can go take your nap now," she said with a soft smile. He could see the sincerity in this one.

"Wha—How did you—" he tried to speak.

"I may have caught you sleeping on the platform a few times." She placed her chin onto the palm of her hand and gave a teasing smile. "Your face always looked so serious as you slept."

A few times?! He could feel a tinge of blush forming on his face. He's been sleeping without realizing someone was watching him and that shocked him. Over the years of playing various sports, he was able to enhance his senses to a level where he could perceive another's presence within a certain radius. It was probably a good thing he didn't catch her presence anyways, since he had the habit of reacting aggressively when being snuck up on. But it was odd. It wasn't like his senses were fading; in contrast, it may even be getting better. Just the other day, Brooke tried to tickle his nose with a feather but couldn't even get in the first touch before Zoro had instinctively landed an upper cut to his bony jaw. Now he couldn't help but wonder how he didn't notice. If there was nothing wrong with him, it had to be that she was good at hiding her presence. He met her brown eyes, searching for something in them, but her eyes quickly close as she gave him another smile. He couldn't seem to figure her out.

Suddenly, Luffy plopped beside Robin in exhaustion and let out a sigh, "Ahh I'm so tired!" He huffed out another breath before asking Robin for water. She handed him her water bottle and he drank with glee, feeling the freshness of cold water.

Zoro eyed them strangely, wondering if they were dating, but then erased that thought remembering how Luffy said he wasn't really interested in dating during their high school years. If that was so, what the hell was Luffy even doing up here?

"We're about done here, so why don't we get ready to go eat," Robin said to Luffy, who had then suddenly found the energy to stand up with enthusiasm. "Are you coming too, Mr. Serious?"

He tightened his jaw at the nickname, confirming to himself that he definitely won't be able to get along with her. Before Zoro could refuse, Luffy answered for him, "Of course he is! The more the merrier!" Luffy smiled wide, drawing back Zoro's thought of objection.

The three head out of the building and towards the nearest water faucet to wash the dirt off their face. Impatiently, Luffy was first to get to the faucet. As quickly as he dove his head into water, he jumped back out of it. He shook his hair vigorously, managing to sprinkle drops onto both Robin and Zoro and earning a glare from the moss head. Zoro looked over to Robin who only just chuckled. She caught his glance and he tried to play it off by letting her use the faucet first.

"My, what a gentleman." He clicked his tongue, hearing the tease her voice.

Unlike Luffy, Robin thoroughly washed her hands and gently rinsed her face. He guessed maybe she came from a rich family with the way she looked so serene and nobly just from washing her hands. Robin pulled back from the cold water with a refreshed smile. A few loose strands of her hair had gotten wet and stuck to her skin. She undid her hair and did the same motion Luffy had done, yet it sparked a different feeling from Zoro. Fuck. What was he thinking? He looked away and walked towards the water then placed his head directly under the faucet and let the water stream to his whole head down to his neck. He tried to quickly wash away the dirt and sweat clinging to him and drown out any thoughts he just had.

Robin brought the two to a small family restaurant just a few blocks down from the campus grounds. They sat down at a booth with Luffy sitting inside next to Zoro and across from Robin. The waitress came by and took their orders with an overly cheerful voice.

"Meat! Meat! Meat!" Luffy said as he drooled.

"Can I get three orders of hamburg steak for my friend," Robin ordered for Luffy. "And I'll have the country fried steak."

"And for you sir?" The waitress smiled wide, but as she inched closer to Zoro, she could smell the stench of mixed soil and sweat still prominent on his clothes. She subconsciously stepped back and wrinkled her nose, but still tried to retain a smile, though it was clearly less cheerful.

Luffy and Robin couldn't help but snicker at the reaction, earning glares from Zoro, who tried to play it off. "Triple stack cheeseburger," he replied in a low annoyed tone.

"And what would you guys like to drink?" Her cheer coming back as she turned towards the other two.

"Orange juice!"

"Black coffee for me, please."

"A-and for you sir?" The waitress frightened when turning around and meeting eyes with an irritated face.

"Beer."

"S-sorry, we're not serving any alcohol at this time."

"Then water."

"Okay, I'll be back with your orders!" The waitress quickly scurried off, leaving Luffy and Robin to chuckle at Zoro's embarrassment.

"It's not funny." Zoro said between clenched teeth.

"There's no need to be embarrassed." He looked up to see Robin leaning on her right hand. "We're all in the same boat though perhaps your odor is just stronger." Zoro was just about to retaliate, but heard her say, "Sorry, I made you work so hard." She gave a soft smile.

Shit. He turned away, hiding his warm cheeks, and then clicked his tongue. "Whatever."

The waitress returned with their drinks and let them know that their food would be ready in a few minutes. As Zoro sat quietly sipping his water, he listened to Luffy and Robin chat.

"And then, and then, Sanji made this huuuuuggge feast for the competition and of course, I beat Bonney," he smiled his stupid grin as he bragged.

"That sounds fun," Robin commented.

"Yeah you should come next time!"

"I think I will. It'll be nice to see everyone again."

Zoro had just then remembered his question that was never answered and abruptly asked without realizing, "How did you guys even meet?"

"Ehh didn't I tell you? Robin recruited me for her club in the beginning of the year."

"Huh?! You never told me shit!"

"Mm well I'm telling you now, so isn't it fine?" his stupid grin is plastered on his face again.

He never thought Luffy would join any club, if anything an eating club which did not exist to Luffy's disappointment. "So what club is this? The Flower Collecting Club or something?"

"Close," Robin smiled, "It's the Botanical Research Club. Though Luffy and I are part of the subgroup that tends specifically to flowers."

"Huh," he hummed.

"Interested in joining?"

"Fuck no," he was going to say, but Luffy interjected yet again.

"Yeah you should definitely join! Then you wouldn't feel so left out."

"Hah?!"

"You know like last week when you got depressed because everyone knew Robin, except you."

The way he worded it made it seem like Zoro was interested in Robin. He cursed his long-time friend inwardly not able to say anything aloud because of the heat rising to his face. Robin just chuckled and he dared to look up to meet eyes with her, knowing he was in for another round of mockery.

"I'm vice president of the Botanical Research Club, Robin Nico. It's nice to meet you." There was a sincere smile this time.

"Zoro. Zoro Roronoa," he managed to say. Maybe he was wrong about her. Maybe her smiles are just smiles. Maybe she—

"I think I'll stick to Mr. Serious. It suits you better," she smiled this time with a tilt and a hint of tease.

Maybe she was just trying to get under his fucking skin.

Lesson 2/End.


End file.
